Yet, build that new baseball stadium?
PSJA ISD’s new superintendent, Dr. Alejandro Elias, has been on the job since Nov. 30 after last year’s election upset the status quo, board majority, and three-year superintendent, Jorge Arredondo. So what’s he seen so far from the inside?
For that, we caught up with him by phone Monday to get his insight into what can only be described as a district in need of some stability when he first assumed the role Nov. 30. The board of trustees, by the way, just approved the go-ahead with regard to finding someone who will conduct a full financial audit of the district, since the change in administrations last November.
Advance News Journal (ANJ): So let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Since you came on board last year, what things did you see right off the bat?
Alejandro Elias: “What really surprised me up here, number one, was the culture. The morale was down, so that was my number one fix, to assure the people that I was here for the right reasons and to treat everybody with fairness. That was my message, and I think we’ve managed to change the culture a lot.” ANJ: OK, second thing you saw?
Elias: “The second thing, I think, comes back to the scope of the (financial) audit. I mean, I think we’re in trouble because we did overestimate in our enrollment with the previous administration. I think we’re in trouble with our finances to a certain point, but nothing that we can’t handle and fix without having to cut any people or attrition or anything like that.
“That’s one of the messages I wanted to send out this past board meeting, which is that we’re not here to cut any jobs or anything. I mean, we’re a family. PSJA is a family. I’m from here. I think that the message has to be that we’re going to work with everybody. I mean, there might be changes as far as positions, but not to where we have to cut anybody (due to finances).”
ANJ: Approximately how long do you think the audit will take, and what’s the cost going to be?
Elias: “The cost we can figure out, and that’s one of the things that I wanted approval on so I could do the negotiating with them based on the scope of interest. Then I can negotiate as far as the cost and then the time span that it would take.
“Now I’m being very aggressive because that’s one of the things that I posted during the interviewing to the firms — if the board has certain areas of interest, then I want it done by at least May.
“Now, although it usually takes anywhere from six to nine months to do an audit like this, I think we can move forward if we can (press ahead) on certain areas that are more of interest (to the board and district), and then we can deal with the other areas as we move along.”
ANJ: OK, so what would you say to the detractor, naysayer out there who says, “Hey, this is a big waste of time and money on the part of the district. Why don’t we just move on and start over?” What do you say to that comment?
Elias: “Well, I think number one, it’s transparency to the whole community, and we owe it to our students as well. Transparency is, number one, where was this money really allocated? Was it justifiably spent or was it misused, or what was it that put us in this situation now?
“To me, transparency goes a long way, and I think we owe it to all our taxpayers to pursue it.”
ANJ: In terms of an estimated under-count with regard to student population, underestimating the enrollment, could you put that in terms of either percentage or an actual number going into this current school year, and in dollar terms, how much does that mean to the district over the year?
Elias: “For us, we probably came up short about 1,000 students. At about $9,258 per student per year (paid by the state), that adds up to about a deficit of approximately $9.2 million.”
ANJ: When you came in as interim superintendent at the end of last November, did you see any signs that any attempt was being made to right the ship, so to speak, somehow make up for this year’s student-enrollment shortfall?
Elias: “Not really. To me, we were going into a bigger hole as far as the finances and our budgeting, because (the previous board majority and superintendent) had already proposed more construction, which was going to be the baseball stadium. Then again, they were proposing to purchase some land also for approximately $11 million (in Pharr, not too far from expressway frontage).”
ANJ: You have since made some changes to the budget, though, right?
Elias: “I mean, if we’re cutting back on the baseball stadium and we already did away with not purchasing that land, that puts me in a good situation where we’re not going to use these funds until we can really find out exactly how we can budget with the other areas that are already in construction or being done.
“So hopefully, that will help us to not have to cut any positions or have to cut staff anywhere.”
ANJ: So the land’s purchase price was approximately $11 million. How much was the new baseball stadium going to cost?
Elias: “About $13.2 million.”
ANJ: And the land worth $11 million was going to be used for what?
Elias: “Supposedly to build another high school.”
ANJ: If someone had said to you, why should PSJA ISD spend about $24 million to build a new baseball stadium and buy land for a new high school it apparently doesn’t need, based on current enrollment, what would you have said?
Elias: “The only high school at 100 percent capacity right now is PSJA High in San Juan.
“To me, they (the previous board majority and superintendent) never asked, ‘What can we do to help the staff, to help the students so that they can get the proper resources?’
“Right now, we’re engaged in new student enrollment, recruitment. That’s going to prove very successful for us, I think.
“Again, I mean, I think the board is very supportive, or at least the side of the board that’s really supporting us. I think, again, (the new board majority) wants transparency for everybody. If we don’t find anything (during the forensic audit), then more power to PSJA ISD, but if we do, I think we have to hold accountable whatever we find and be transparent.”